Studies 
Studies
Our studies cover a range of trending topics and deliver original, reliable data you can't get anywhere else on the web.
By: Toby Sembower
Editor: Lillian Castro
Reviewer: Cristian Lopez
| OVERALL RATING |
4.6
/ 5.0
★★★★★
|
|---|---|
| Features | 4.8 / 5.0 |
| Ease of Use | 4.3 / 5.0 |
| Pricing | 4.5 / 5.0 |
| Reliability & Support | 4.5 / 5.0 |
| See Deals |
Disclosure: When you sign up through links on our site, we often earn referral fees from partners. For more information, see our ad disclosure and review policy.
Shopify is easily one of the more well-known ecommerce web builder platforms in the hosting industry. Plans are fully hosted, include a free site builder tool, and allow you to showcase an unlimited number of products with unlimited file storage as well.
Compared to other web hosts, Shopify is not going to offer you the same level of robustness in terms of technological offerings, but the company's ecommerce features are on point.
Online store building is Shopify's bread-and-butter service, and the company is darn good at it. First of all, the Shopify theme store features hundreds of free and premium theme options that are relatively easy for customers to manipulate. Dev-savvy folks can further customize their storefronts and themes via the Shopify API.
You can actually start building your online marketplace today — for free for three days — and select your plan later. The Shopify experts are on call and ready to help 24/7.
Once you've built your online store with Shopify, build your business by processing product transactions through a myriad of payment methods. Shopify users can sell via social media, by integrating a Buy Now button, or by using the Shopify POS system.
Serious ecommerce folks may even opt to purchase the retail package add-on, which includes a cash register, receipt printer, and barcode scanner.
All in all, Shopify offers everything you need to run an efficient and lucrative online business. The commerce-oriented features are many, and they only advance with each upgrade in service package. Also, you can buy or transfer your domain name, or park your online store at a free MyShopify.com subdomain.
If you're ecommerce-focused, trust Shopify for your online store building.
"We haven't evaluated Shopify for this type of hosting service — yet. Either the company didn't offer this option at the time this review was written or this section of the review hasn't made it to the top of our editorial queue just yet. Either way, check back later, as we're always working to keep our reviews up to date and as comprehensive as possible!"
"We haven't evaluated Shopify for this type of hosting service — yet. Either the company didn't offer this option at the time this review was written or this section of the review hasn't made it to the top of our editorial queue just yet. Either way, check back later, as we're always working to keep our reviews up to date and as comprehensive as possible!"
Shopify makes it about as easy as feasibly possible to get started, beginning with a three-day free trial. The company's website is pretty intuitive and lays out everything you need to know before taking the plunge to pick a plan. Overall, you're going to get more robust technology with a web host, rather than an eCommerce web builder, but Shopify's ease of use is pretty great.
Shopify pricing can get pretty lofty — reaching thousands of dollars for the highest-tier monthly plan — but the company's other plans offer plenty of features to get your online store built and online relatively painlessly. With each hike in cost comes a package upgrade that includes added ecommerce features like gift card functionality or advanced tools for reporting, shopping carts, and shipping. Depending on what your online store building needs are, you can certainly find a Shopify package that suites your ecommerce expectations. Don't forget: it's all fully hosted!
Shopify services are fully hosted, but you can't expect an eCommerce platform to be as robust as some of the more advanced exclusively hosting companies' technology. The company doesn't offer an uptime guarantee, as you'd expect to find with more traditional web hosts, but Shopify does offer the 24/7 assistance of the friendly Shopify experts.
Wondering how Shopify stacks up againt other web hosting services? See our host-vs-host reviews below and compare them side by side.
Calling all website owners needing reliable web hosting: we put Shopify and Web.
See full comparison »
Overall Rating
Shared hosting expert versus eCommerce giant: In this host comparison, we’re putting Shopify and HostGator head to head to see which provider takes all.
See full comparison »
Overall Rating
Wix versus Shopify — two wildly popular service providers, duke it out in this host comparison.
See full comparison »
Overall Rating
Calling all eCommerce site owners: Shopify offers the world’s most popular online platform for selling goods.
See full comparison »
Overall Rating
In the Black Friday shopping spree of empowering eCommerce site builders, Shopify and Volusion are always at the front of the line when the doors open.
See full comparison »
Overall Rating
Shopify and GoDaddy are two of the largest web service organizations out there, but comparing the two isn’t exactly straightforward.
See full comparison »
Overall Rating
In this tale of two web hosts, we’re diving into the details of two HostingAdvice favorites: Shopify and iPage.
See full comparison »
Overall Rating
Shopify and Bluehost are different pieces in the web hosting puzzle.
See full comparison »
Overall Rating
Weebly steps up to bat; Shopify throws the first pitch, but who will make a home run by the end of this game?
See full comparison »
Overall Rating
Shopify is the winner
2 out of 9 times.
Toby Sembower
Hosting Expert:
The Shopify experts have built a platform from which anyone can easily launch an online business and customize it to match their personal brand via free and premium Shopify themes. All packages include fully hosted services, a free site builder, and a boatload of eCommerce features that only increase and advance with each plan upgrade. All in all, if you're looking for an exclusively eCommerce website, Shopify makes it super easy to boast an unlimited number of products and accept payments for them via a multitude of ways, such as social media, a flashy Buy Now button, or the Shopify POS system. If an online store is what you need, Shopify can help you create it.
|
Overall Rating
4.6 / 5.0
★★★★★
|
HostingAdvice.com is a free online resource that offers valuable content and comparison services to users. To keep this resource 100% free for users, we receive advertising compensation from the hosts listed on this page. Along with key review factors, this compensation may impact how and where hosts appear on the page (including, for example, the order in which they appear). HostingAdvice.com does not include listings for all web hosts.
Our site is committed to publishing independent, accurate content guided by strict editorial guidelines. Before articles and reviews are published on our site, they undergo a thorough review process performed by a team of independent editors and subject-matter experts to ensure the content’s accuracy, timeliness, and impartiality. Our editorial team is separate and independent of our site’s advertisers, and the opinions they express on our site are their own. To read more about our team members and their editorial backgrounds, please visit our site’s About page.
